Ann Arbor Reconstructionist Congregation

Beit Sefer (Religious School)

Update on AARC’s Beit Sefer Religious School From Director, Clare Kinberg.

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This is my seventh year as Beit Sefer director and I’m very excited to let the curriculum of the past years take a rest (it’s a shmita year after all) and plant some seeds of a new program that centers outdoor, environmental and experiential learning. 

The Beit Sefer will still meet weekly on Sunday mornings, but one Sunday each month will meet out at Carole Caplan-Sosin’s farm on Jennings where we will learn Torah straight from nature. On the other Sundays we will focus on Hebrew, t’fila (prayer) and finishing our monthly creative projects begun out at the farm. Of course, stories and songs will round out each of our gatherings. 

We will return to meeting at the JCC when we aren’t at the farm, but we will learn outside under the tents as long as possible, and in the spring, as soon as possible we’ll be outside again. At all times we will follow COVID safety measures, including wearing masks.

Last year, the AARC Beit Sefer/religious school spent a good deal of time learning on Zoom, but we also did many activities outdoors. It was inspiring to break down the walls. The contemporary movement for outdoor Jewish learning has created many resources: books, lesson plans, and curricula. “Hazon: The Jewish Lab for Sustainability” website has over 500 excellent lesson plans that use Jewish traditions, rituals, and texts to teach compassion for all life on earth and environmental responsibility. While our AARC Beit Sefer will not be inventing the wheel of Jewish environmental education, we will be creating a dynamic new program.

Over the course of the school year, we will visit The Farm on Jennings nine times, on the second Sunday of each month. Each month will have a different theme based on the yearly cycle of trees as taught in Rabbi Jill Hammer’s The Book of Days: A Companion for All Seasons. The themes of our Sundays at the farm will include “Seeds,” “Roots,” “Branches,” “Leaves,” “Flowers” and “Fruit” and each will include learning from a song, psalm or blessing, exploring fields, trees and crops on the land, and a creative craft or project. 

Our Beit Sefer year will begin with a trip on August 29 to the Barn Sanctuary in Chelsea, a refuge for abused and neglected farm animals. Last year we did a virtual tour, and this year we will start off the year with an in person visit to celebrate, a bit late, Alef Elul, the first of Elul, which is the Jewish New Year for Animals where we learn deeper and deeper compassion for all creatures. 

The full schedule for the AARC Beit Sefer will be available soon, as will an enrollment page on the AARC website. Please contact Clare Kinberg ckinberg@gmail.com with any questions.

Beit Sefer: Sharing Love Not Virus

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How do I “recap” this year of Beit Sefer?

Ahava means Love

Thirty Sunday mornings filled with love says it for me. Our Beit Sefer teachers Marcy Epstein, Aaron Jackson, Shani Samuels and myself showed up every week filled with love for Judaism, for the students, and for each other.

We started off the year in the first week of Elul with love of animals and we ended on Shavuot with love of Torah and blintzes, and in between we learned about and celebrated every Jewish holiday.

Rabbi Ora met with the students every month to introduce some of our most precious Hebrew blessings and prayers. Our virtual Family Shabbat in April was a lovely culmination of our tefilah (prayer) learning for the year.

With Shani, we learned to write Hebrew alef-bet on the Zoom whiteboard. Marcy invited her students’ families into the Zoom room, and Aaron showed up every week with both his kids, Noah and Ava, brightening up every Zoom.

I thought to recap this year, I’d share images of the love we shared.

Jack and Brenna shared the love but not the virus by going apple picking for Rosh Hashanah in their family pod.
Shani Samuel shared her love of Hebrew and of animals.
Kitanim teacher Marcy Epstein found all sorts of ways to share the love but not the virus including leaving notes on her door!
Aziza shows us loving the natural environment is a Jewish kind of love, too.
The Ullmann McLanes came early and stayed late with some family love to our final day of Beit Sefer.
For our final Beit Sefer session we saw each other in person!
A new family to share the love! Lisa Wexler and her son Dylan Schnorr met Beit Sefer families for the first time on our last day.
Our teens obviously know how to hold a physically distanced conversation! Sharing the love but not the virus.

Come Kvell With Us at Family Shabbat!

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Oy, I’m Kvelling! AARC’s Beit Sefer students have been working very hard to prepare their contributions to this year’s student-led Kabbalat Shabbat Service. So do yourself a toyve and bring the whole mishpocha to services on Friday April 23rd, 6:30-7:30 pm, and watch these kids shine!

With the help of Rabbi Ora and our wonderful Beit Sefer teachers, each class will be responsible for leading the congregation in the evening’s songs and prayers. Everyone is welcome, and the extended family of Beit Sefer student’s are encouraged to attend! If you are not on our mailing list, please email aarcgillian@gmail.com for the Zoom link. We hope to see you Friday, April 23rd at 6:30pm!

Tu b’Shvat in Winter is a Wonderful Thing

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Tu b’Shvat in Michigan requires appreciation of snow, roots, cold and anticipation
Aziza learns that trees in winter especially appreciate hugs.
Sappho with a very large Sweetgum tree behind her.
And then Sappho drew it for us.
Jack stayed inside and planted argula….it only took four days to grow this big!
Wes and Wade playing among the winter trees.
Remember what we see above is small compared to what is below.

Find, Listen to, Hug and Bless a Champion Tree!

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Written By: Clare Kinberg

American Sycamore –

For Tu b’Shvat this year (January 28, 2021), the AARC Beit Sefer invites the whole congregation to help us appreciate our amazing local trees.

Tu b’Shvat, the Jewish New Year of the Trees, is on the full moon in the Hebrew month of Shvat. We celebrate the trees exactly 7 weeks after the first night of Hanukkah, when the celestial lights are dimmest. Seven weeks later, on Tu b’Shvat, the days have lengthened just enough for the tips of the trees to begin to send messages to their roots, “Begin to awaken….” It is cold outside, but the longer daylight tells the trees — and us — Spring is on its way.

Ann Arbor’s Champion Tree Program identifies and catalogs the largest tree of each species within the city. The program was created in 1995 to highlight and recognize these amazing trees and increase awareness and appreciation for outstanding trees that help make Ann Arbor “Tree Town.” There are currently 60 trees in the Champion Tree Registry. You can find them all listed on an interactive map, with information about each tree here. 

Our Tu b’Shvat plan is that during the week of January 23 through January 30, our member households will each pick one tree (or more if you are ambitious) from the registry, visit it, record in photos, drawings, or video what it looks like, and do the following:

1. Listen to the tree by putting your ear to the bark…can you hear the water beginning to rise?

2. Put your arms around the tree and give it a hug!

3. Bless the tree, as something beautiful, a natural wonder, and as something unique (3 blessings are below):

4. When you get home, write a few sentences describing your tree, and email them to Gillian, along with your photo or drawing, so we can share your experience in a future blog!

  • Blessing on Beauty

Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech ha’olam shekahcha lo ba’olamo.

Blessed are you, our God, Ruler of the World, who has such as this in the world.

  • Blessing on Seeing Natural Wonders (from Ritualwell)

God-as-masculine/traditional:

Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech ha’olam, oseh ma’aseh v’reshit.

You are blessed, our God, Ruler of the world, Source of creation.

God-as-feminine:

B’rukha At Ya Eloheinu Ruah ha’olam, osah ma’aseh v’reshit. 

You are blessed, our God, Spirit of the world, Source of creation.

  • Blessing on seeing an unusual creature

Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, m’shaneh habriyot.

Blessed are You, our God, Ruler of the Universe, who makes creatures different.

Beit Sefer Hanukkah Mitzvah Project

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For the first two weeks in December, our Beit Sefer families collected warm blankets, socks, hats, food, and toiletry items for distribution to people experiencing homelessness in our community. Our youngest class, the Kitanim, and their dedicated and inspiring teacher, Marcy Epstein, initiated this project. Besides gathering the items listed above, the class packaged them in waterproof plastic bags and made sure the packages got to the people in need.

Marcy reported that we gathered over 75 items for the homeless and displaced. Her friend Heidi Alward, the Vice Chair of the Board of the Women’s Center of Ann Arbor (which made sure everything was given out), sent the Beit Sefer a message:

“Wow, thank you, Marcy (and the AARC Beit Sefer)! I am so moved by you and your students and their families’ generosity of spirit. Please tell them that their actions will move people they may never meet and have ripple effects they may never feel, but they have created a positive impact. Beyond the food and materials goods, we have given them a sign that people care, that there is compassion, kindness and love in an often unjust world.”

Marcy taught that giving to people in need can be drawn from the phrase in the fourth book of the Torah, Vayikra/Now God Called (also known as Leviticus) 25:1, “Now when your brother sinks down (in poverty), and his hand falters beside you, then you shall strengthen him (as though) a sojourner and a resident-settler, and he is to live beside you.”

Beit Sefer visits Barn Sanctuary

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The month of Elul, when we prepare ourselves for Rosh Hashanah and the Days of Awe, begins with The New Year for the Animals, where we learn about compassion, care, and openheartedness. The Barn Sanctuary in Chelsea, where over 120 rescued farm animals experience love and care, gave our Beit students and teachers excellent examples of compassionate care.

Aharon Varady writes on OpenSiddur: What a better way to begin a month dedicated to humbling ourselves and repairing our relationships than by reflecting first on our relationship with behemah — the domesticated animals which depend on us for their care and sustenance. The category of behemah includes all animals historically bred by humans as domesticated creatures, both kosher and non-kosher, e.g. cats and cattle, dogs and donkeys, goats, pigs, chicken, and llamas. If we can imagine, empathize, and understand the dependency of behemah in our care, how much better can we realize our relationship with blessed Holy One, and the infinite chain of inter-dependencies uniting all living relationships in reflection of this Oneness.

Students and teachers alike were fascinated by the virtual tour. Aaron, Ava, and Noah Jackson

The mission of the Barn Sanctuary: We rescue and rehabilitate abused and neglected farmed animals by creating a safe haven where these individuals can recover and thrive. We envision a world in which farmed animals are seen as individuals and treated with empathy and compassion. 

We learned that turkeys can change the color of their heads based on their emotions, and that turkeys have “accents” so that Michigan turkeys sound different from turkeys from other places

Our virtual tour guide, Sarah Chouinard, did an outstanding job of introducing us to the animals, and attentively answering our students many questions. Sarah spent a full hour with us as we visited chickens, goats, sheep, donkeys and cows in addition to the pigs and turkeys.

We learned that they have about 32 pigs because last year two of the rescued pigs were pregnant, and now they have their (already 200 lb) babies!
As we met the farm animals, our students introduced their stuffed animals who they snuggled with while touring the Barn Sanctuary.

The Barn Sanctuary is a wonderful local organization that we hope you will support. Visit them at barnsanctuary.org

Child and Family Programming and Childcare for High Holidays 2021

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AARC offers an engaging and flexible series of High Holidays learning opportunities and services for children and families, led by AARC Beit Sefer (religious school) Director Clare Kinberg. To take part, please fill out the Child and Family Programming Form. For now, due to COVID-19 safety considerations our children’s services and child care will be open to members only. If we are able to invite the public, we will update this webpage.

High Holidays Children’s Services Schedule:

  • Tuesday, September 7th, 10:30am: Rosh Hashanah Children’s Service at the UU
  • Thursday, September 16th, 10:30am: Yom Kippur Children’s Service at the UU

If you have any questions about this programming, please email us. We looking forward to sharing this sacred time together!

High Holidays Childcare Signup:

  • Children and caregivers will be required to wear masks while indoors.
  • High Holiday Childcare is offered for children 2 years of age and older.
  • The childcare room will be located in the Jackson Lounge in the main corridor leading to the sanctuary. Vaccinated teens over 12 may stay in the boardroom across the hall.
  • Both childcare rooms will be staffed by qualified caregivers.
  • Childcare for members who sign up by September 1 is free of charge.  Reservations (and payment) should be made by September 1. Members who do not sign up by the deadline will be asked to pay $10 per child per day.Without advance reservation, childcare will be offered on a space-available basis only.  Sign up online below.
  • If we are able to open up childcare for non-members, the cost for non-members is $20 per child per day.  
  • Payment is due by September 1, by mailing a check or paying online using the Donate button to the right.
  • Please note that children under 13 must remain in childcare or be supervised by an adult at all times; children cannot be allowed to roam on their own while on the Unitarian Universalist Congregation premises. Children may leave childcare only if an adult picks them up.